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Ebola Deaths Keep on Mounting: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone

Ebola Deaths Keep on Mounting: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone

Noriko Watanabe and Paul Joseph Nzeribe

Modern Tokyo Times

The Ebola crisis is showing few signs of abating therefore with each new passing day more people are dying in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Other nations, like Nigeria, have also witnessed deaths but on a dramatically low scale compared with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Therefore, the fear factor keeps on rising, the economic impact continues to ramp up and families are being torn apart.

International wise, it appears that West Africa is being neglected despite some agencies working around the clock to support the nations that have been hit hard. Likewise, internal issues related to the respective health services and social provisions are in the spotlight. However, the feeling is that enough isn’t being done to quell the crisis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states in relation to Liberia that: “Ebola is spreading exponentially in Liberia, with thousands of new cases expected in the next three weeks.”

Equally significant, the WHO states in relation to conventional methods to quell the spread of Ebola that these traditional methods were “not having an adequate impact.”

This reality appears to point in the direction of a more virulent form of Ebola. Also, given the geographic nature of nations being hit in parts of West Africa, then certain conditions and factors must be involved in the complex Ebola chain.

Latest figures state that over 2,100 people have perished from Ebola and that 79 workers in the health care sector have died. Sadly, this figure will rise and likewise the burden on health care workers will continue to increase because more individuals in this sector will perish.

The WHO stated that organizations involved in helping to quell the crisis must step up efforts by “three-to-four fold.”

However, while the WHO may be correct about this, it is equally clear that the infrastructure in nations like Liberia is inadequate given the severe demands being put on this nation in relation to the Ebola crisis. The upshot of this is that many infected people are being turned away from hospitals because of bed shortages. This in turn means that virus transmission further increases therefore a vicious circle is in motion and this reality is outside the remit of many organizations that are trying to support the people of West Africa.

In a past article by Modern Tokyo Times it was stated: “It now appears that the Ebola crisis is spreading to other nations, with Nigeria showing signs of growing concern and fears persist in nations like Benin and several others. On top of this, doctors and nurses are paying a heavy price for trying to contain and alleviate the crisis. This brutal reality is extremely sad and highlights the bravery of health workers that are on the frontline.”

The BBC reports: “Three countries – Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia – are at the heart of the Ebola outbreak, but Liberia is suffering the most by far. Why this is the case is not completely understood. Finding the answer will be a critical part of tackling the outbreak.”

The only certain fact currently is that more people will perish from the ongoing Ebola crisis. Therefore, the international community must increase its focus on this horrendous problem.